Whenever my son announces he wants to cook dinner I'm delighted because I know we'll be having great food. He doesn't use recipes in a conventional way or measure ingredients, so it's usually hard to pin him down on just what he's added; but this time he was inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite Indian cookbooks, and I grilled him on what he did, so I could share his interpretation of the recipe.
He started with "Spiced Green Beans" from Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi and David Baird." With this recipe as inspiration, he changed spices and added ingredients to come up with a truly delicious main course dish.
Potato-green bean-kidney bean curry
- 1 – 2 tablespoons oil (or half oil and half Earth Balance margarine)
- 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 12 ounces fresh green beans, stems trimmed
- 12 ounces canned chopped tomatoes in their juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 small potatoes, cubed and steamed until half cooked
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- handful chopped fresh cilantro
- salt to taste
- Heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds and mustard seeds until the cumin seeds darken and the mustard pops and turns gray, about a minute.
- Add the onion and saute until it softens, about a minute or two. Add the green beans and cook about 2–3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and simmer about a minute.
- Add the water, potatoes, turmeric and kidney beans, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
- Add the sugar, some cilantro and salt to taste, cover and simmer about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the sauce reduces and thickens.
- Garnish and serve with brown basmati rice.
